Following recent whole school training in Alicante and Murcia, Hounslow Language Service was invited to deliver 2 days of EAL training in Barcelona. Nicola Davies, the Assistant Head of the British School, hosted the course in partnership with a linked International School.
The course targeted specific phase groups for some of the sessions which gave opportunities for staff to consider strategies to improve support for EAL in the classrooms. A session for TAs was followed by ‘Developing talk in Early Years’ with a final session on ‘Developing Language and Literacy Across the Curriculum’. The second day included ‘Strategies for working with Beginners and New Arrivals’ and also parental inclusion ‘How to support your child at home’. Both days concluded with whole staff sessions, discussions and questions.
Nicola and the staff commented on a ‘super few days’ and on the quality of Andy Harvey’s presentations, ‘Fantastic and flexible’. The training days got everyone talking and thinking about EAL across the school and highlighted the view of the EAL learner. ‘It has made us reflect on how we admit new pupils into the school, prepare for EAL across the school as well as reflect on our English lessons to all our pupils’. Staff particularly valued the HLS EAL teaching resources which can be accessed via the website www.ealhls.org.uk . HLS are now looking forward to more International courses eg. in Madrid in February.